Tarsus Regulatory News (TRS)

26 November 2013

Tarsus Group plc

Mexico Acquisition

Tarsus Group plc (LSE: TRS, "Tarsus" or the "Group"), the international business-to-business media group, has agreed to acquire a 50% interest in a company that owns two major exhibitions in Mexico from E.J. Krause & Associates, Inc. ("EJK") (the "Acquisition") to establish a joint venture (the "JV") with EJK.

EJK was founded in 1984 and is one of the largest privately held exhibition companies in the world. Headquartered in the US EJK has offices on three continents and produces over 80 events in 16 different industries.

The JV owns two events held in Mexico:

· Plastimagen (2013: 17,400 net sqm), a leading exhibition in Mexico for the plastics industry, focussing on plastics processing and ancillary equipment, attracting engineering and production professionals from plastics processing, packaging and manufacturing companies. It is run on an 18 month cycle with the next edition scheduled to be held in November 2014; and

· Expo Manufactura (2013: 4,300 net sqm), Mexico's premier metalworking/manufacturing exhibition, featuring machine tools, assembly technology, fabricating, software, coil winding and welding technologies. Visitors include production and engineering professionals from across a wide spectrum of Mexican manufacturing industries. The show takes place annually, with the next edition due to be held in March 2014.

The JV provides the Group with an important hub in the growing Mexican exhibition market and it will be one of the top three largest international exhibition companies in Mexico. Under the terms of the Acquisition EJK will continue to manage the events post Acquisition. The Acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in 2014.

The JV will also provide a platform for Tarsus to launch new exhibitions in Mexico, primarily drawing on Tarsus's existing major brands. Concurrently Tarsus has agreed to collaborate with EJK by launching replications of existing EJK brands into territories in which Tarsus has a suitable launch platform.

The first of these will be in Indonesia where the Group has agreed with EJK to launch an edition of EXPO COMM in Jakarta. EXPO COMM is an ICT exhibition with a global schedule of events in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. It covers telecommunications, broadband, wireless 3G/4G, unified communications and network infrastructure. The first event is scheduled to be held in November 2014.

Douglas Emslie, Tarsus Group Managing Director, said:

"Mexico is a large and fast-growing market that has close trading ties with the US. The Mexican exhibition market is highly fragmented at present and offers exciting potential for growth.

"This agreement with EJ Krause enables Tarsus to acquire a stake in two leading events in Mexico - Plastimagen and Expo Manufactura. The joint venture fits our aim to quicken the pace of our earnings by investing in quality assets in high growth markets.

"I am excited by the opportunity to work with EJ Krause to launch collaborative replications of Tarsus' brands in Mexico and EJ Krause's brands in emerging markets where Tarsus has an established footprint, initially with an edition of EXPO COMM in Indonesia."

Notes to editors

Tarsus Group plc (LSE:TRS) is an international business-to-business media group with interests in exhibitions, publishing and online media. The Group operates globally in key verticals including aviation, medical, labels and packaging, discount clothing (Off-Price), housewares and automotive. Tarsus runs more than 80 events and websites and its flagship brands include the Labelexpo exhibitions in Europe, the Americas, India and Asia and the Dubai Airshow.

The Group operates across a worldwide network of offices in Dublin, London, Paris, Milwaukee, Boca Raton (Florida), Dubai, Shanghai, New Delhi and Istanbul. Tarsus is building on its strong presence in the emerging markets of the Middle East, China, Turkey, India and South America.

www.tarsus.com